Global Leadership
Canada is a global ‘hot bed’ for biotechnology. Canada recognizes the economic potential of the biotech industry. Therefore, the country has formally committed itself to become one of the top five countries in the world for biotech research and development.
Canada shows measurable success:
- No. 1 in the biomedical R&D; sector with a 17per-cent cost advantage over the United States. (KPMG study, 2004)
- No 1 in the clinical trials sector holding a business cost advantage of 22.4 per cent over the United States. (KPMG study, 2004)
- No 2 in terms of the number of companies with 417 firms. (Ernst & Young report, 2002)
Canadian Biotech Industry Snapshot (2001)
- 375 core biotechnology companies, including 94 public firms
- 11,897 employees
- $3.6 billion in biotech revenues
- $746 million in exports
- $1.3 billion in R&D; spending
- $513 million spent by the federal government on biotech in 2001-2002
Source: Statistics Canada Biotechnology Use and Development Survey, 2001